it's time
by DeepPoeticGirl
Summary: /SasuSaku/ She just wanted to give him something special on his birthday, something that would make him happy—but the unrelenting deluge of the violent rainstorm outside their cave prevented that for her. Sasuke disagreed; there was one thing that she could give him on his birthday, something he had been waiting to bring up for a while now, but never could: a family. ONESHOT.
_I forgot to post this on here! Tumblr broke the news two-three days ago that Sarada's birthday is about 9 months after Sasuke's birthday. You can imagine my reaction! Biggest surge of inspiration!_

 _Do enjoy! :)_

 **Disclaimer:** _I don't own Naruto._

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 **it's time**

 _by_ **DeepPoeticGirl**

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"You're pouting again," Sasuke remarked, pausing in his task of tending the fire.

Sakura didn't bother to deny. "Yes, because I'm mad at this weather," she said, voice sharp and annoyed as she gestured to the heavy downpour falling in waterfalls outside their cave. "It's been going on for hours! This isn't how I planned to spend your birthday!"

He blinked, eyes softening a little. It was just like Sakura to get upset over the fact she couldn't make a day as special as she wanted it to be. Standing from his place by the fire, he dusted off his knees and went to make his way to her, shrugging as she looked up at him with discouraged eyes.

"It doesn't matter," he said, sitting by her side. "I've stopped caring about my birthday long ago–it hasn't been special in over eight years. You don't need to get upset for me."

"Of course I get upset," she replied softly, reaching to touch him. "Birthdays should always be special, Sasuke-kun. It's celebrating the day you were born, surrounded by people who love you–who are thankful that you _exist_. Being cherished." Her brows furrowed for a moment, eyes suddenly so heavy, before she went and buried her face into the shoulder of his missing arm, sighing. "Sasuke-kun's birthday is the day I get to treasure him the most… so if I can't even do that, I think I have the right to be upset, right?"

A soft warmth washed over him, causing his heart to swell and his throat to tighten. Closing his eyes, he brushed his mouth to the crown of her hair, and let himself linger. It always amazed him, how very deeply this girl loved him.

"I don't even have a present for you," she said then, voice muffled but clearly seeped in disappointment.

His lips twitched. "Sakura, I don't care about presents." He paused, and then added, "Besides, where could you even get one? The next village is nearly a day away."

"I know," she grumbled. "But you know, gifts don't always have to be something concrete. Sometimes they're just about the sentiment behind it–like a picnic, for example. Or, I don't know, going to a natural hot spring together. Sometimes, it's the feeling behind it that counts the most."

 _(The feeling behind it…)_

"Is that what you wanted to do?" he asked, feeling his eyes soften once more.

She shrugged against him, pushing herself away to look at him again, her gaze unbearably gentle. "I don't know," she admitted. "But I wanted to give you something special. Something that you make you happy."

That made his lips part, heart pounding and flipping oddly in his chest as the warmth of her kindness spread through him. She was always so selfless, so senselessly giving, when it came to him. Sasuke never understood why, but gods if he didn't feel himself falling in love with her a little more each time.

"Not that I'm saying you aren't," she quickly interjected, eyes widening with slight panic. "I know you are, but… I just wanted to give you something that would make you so, _so happy_. Whether that would have been making your favorite food, or going fishing with you, or surprising you with a visit from Naruto and Kakashi-sensei… I just wanted to give you something that you would–"

 _(amazing. so amazing. how could he have ever been so lucky to have her in his life? to have her waiting for him for so long?)_

Affection surging through him with rattling intensity, the next words left his mouth before he even realized: "How about a family?"

He heard her breath catch just as he stiffened, wide black eyes frozen onto thunderstruck green. Sasuke couldn't believe he had just said that.

 _(even if he had meant every word, even if this had been something he had wanted to bring up lately, because gods this was not the **time** and this was not the **way** and–)_

Sakura expelled a stunned breath, then, drawing Sasuke from his racing thoughts.

"A f-family," she said, red blooming to her cheeks and hand rising to her chest, as if to calm a frantically beating heart. "Y-You mean you want a–a–"

His throat grew tight. "Only if you want to," he found himself saying, eyes darting away and lone hand clenched anxiously at his side. He never would push anything onto her, especially not with something like this. No matter how much he wanted this.

Small hands cupped his cheeks, cradling his head carefully, and Sasuke swallowed, letting her turn his head her way again; he found his worries positively vanished as she laughed, breathless and sweet, pushing her forehead to his own.

"Of course I want to," she whispered, eyes slipped shut and thumbs gently stroking his skin. "You know that there's nothing I want more than that, but Sasuke-kun–are you sure? Are you sure that _you're_ ready for this?"

Lips twitching, he let his eyes fall shut as well. His lone hand reached to cup one of her own. "I am," he murmured, after a long, peaceful moment. "I have been for a long while now."

She laughed again, just as beautifully as she had moments before, and Sasuke felt a warmth rush through him once more, allowing his eyes to flutter open again to catch sight of her overjoyed smile. His lips lifted in a slight mirror of her own, but Sakura kissed it away before it could fully grow.

"Then, Sasuke-kun…" she whispered on his mouth, once they had parted. She smiled, bright and deliriously happy. "I'll give you a family."

.

.

They made love for hours, splayed out on a thin blanket and warmed only by the small fire and the heat of their bodies, slicked skin glistening in the orange firelights. Quiet moans and breathless sounds echoed between the walls of the dark cave, subdued only by the noise of the harsh deluge of the rain outside, but they paid no mind, caught up in one another.

It wasn't their first joining, or their tenth, but there was a gentleness to their passion this time–one that they had yet to have experienced in all the times before; one which brought them closer then they'd ever been.

 _(even in their first time, there hadn't been this much intimacy, and gods if it reached them both, squeezing around his heart with near-painful intensity, while her eyes filled with tears and–)_

When it was finally over, he slumped over her form, sweaty and spent, face buried in her neck and puffing hot breaths against her wet skin. Still connected in the most intimate of ways, he let his eyes fall shut as he felt her fingers delve into his damp hair, sifting softly.

A long silence took them, full of closeness and serenity.

Then, he felt Sakura press a kiss to his head, before she murmured with all the affection in the world, "Happy birthday, Sasuke-kun."

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 _For those who follow my multichapter **home is where the heart is** and are eagerly waiting for an update, I would like to apologize first for the incredible delay, but I swear I have good reason. Apart from being busy with studying for finals (and doing them), my regular computer (the one I use to write and do everything else) overheated by accident and completely fried one day, so I had no access to it at all, or anything on there. I tried to write while on my mac, but it just felt too different since all the tiny details of my scenes were all on the original document on my regular computer and it just wasn't happening. I actually thought I lost everything on there, but my dad told me not to worry, and when I could finally get it to him weeks later (I was busy with finals and work so I couldn't get to my parents until yesterday), he got everything back no problem. So you see, I really would have loved to update much earlier, but I couldn't at all. :( But I think I can whip it out fairly soon :) I work a lot this week, but I really missed writing for my longass oneshot and I'm feeling eager to finish it._

 _Anyway, really hope you enjoyed my little take on canon fact of Sarada being conceived around Sasuke's birthday, possibly the day of ;) I look forward to writing more for you guys very soon!_

 **DeepPoeticGirl**


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